The present invention relates to a user terminal, an operator server, a remote support method, and a user terminal program, remote support being mutually performed between user terminals.
In recent years, a variety of services have been provided to users by connecting a portable terminal, connected to a public line network, to a web server or the like. Particularly, with the appearance of smart phones (high functional mobile phones), high level services that were conventionally provided by a personal computer can be provided by the mobile phone.
Instead of a server providing services, various functions are mounted in a smart phone itself. Thus, much time may be required for a user to become familiar with all mounted functions. For example, although a function desired by a user is mounted in the smart phone, the user may be unable to use the desired function if it is difficult to be fully aware of a method for setting the function.
Accordingly, a user needs to fully understand setting manipulations and functions of the smart phone in order to maximize the utilization efficiency of high level web services and high level functions of the smart phone. Further, it is sometimes the case that a user who is not familiar with the manipulations of a terminal makes errors by deleting important setting information or making inappropriate settings when initially setting the terminal.
In view of the above, there is disclosed means for remotely setting a user terminal and/or enabling the user to be aware of the user terminal by performing remote support (remote maintenance) on the user terminal. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-006062 discloses means for enabling a server to obtain screen information of each client and the server to constantly display the screen information as a list to thereby improve the support and monitoring efficiency of the clients.
Further, there is disclosed means for performing a remote manipulation by, e.g., enabling an operator (supporter) terminal to remotely log into a supportee user terminal and sharing a real-time screen. Specifically, by successively transmitting a screen displayed on the user terminal to the operator terminal and manipulating the operator terminal, it is possible to perform input manipulation (remote manipulation) of the user terminal as if directly manipulating the user terminal. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-034315 discloses a remote support method using a mobile phone.
However, with the explosive dissemination of smart phones and personal computers, the number of users dealing with high-performance information appliances has recently been increasing. Therefore, the number of users with respect to one operator also increases, and thus the time and the service quality that can be devoted to the support per user are expected to deteriorate in inverse proportion to the number of users. In addition, since the operator can freely manipulate an individual device through the remote support, users who are not familiar with information appliances often feel a sense of possibly irrational crisis.
Recently, a system in which a customer serves not only as a service provider but also as a service receiver has been developed beyond the conventional relationship that a company serves to provide a service and a customer receives the service. In such a system, it is possible to create values by facilitating service exchange between customers and enabling companies to prepare environments for facilitating the service exchange instead of providing services.
The present inventor has paid attention to the facts that the number of service providers are significantly increased by enabling users to receive remote support from other users instead of a professional company for providing remote support, and the sense of security of a user who receives remote support from another user can be improved in terms of privacy or a decrease in risk of crime in the case that the user providing the remote support is a member of his/her family, a friend, or the like.
When an operator remotely logs into a user terminal by manipulating an operator terminal, an error may be generated into a device connected to the user terminal in which the operator is logging, instead of the user terminal. For example, when a smart phone receiving remote support is connected to a wireless LAN at home, it is necessary to set a service set identifier (SSID). To that end, it is required to check and manipulate an SSID setting of a wireless router. However, even by logging into the smart phone, it is difficult to check and/or manipulate the SSID setting thereof.
Thus, the present inventor has focused on whether to check and/or manipulate a device that is communicably connected to a supportee device (a smart phone in this example) by using the supportee device.
The present inventor has also attended to the point that manageability can be improved by allowing a user serving as an operator to store each supportee device in a form associated with a corresponding user (owner) when remote support is performed between users. Further, the present inventor has given attention to the fact that, when a desired one of the devices that are communicably connected to terminals is supported as above, an appropriate terminal that needs to be logged into is automatically selected to thereby improve manageability.
Furthermore, the present inventor has paid attention to the point that it is possible to simply provide customer-to-customer remote support without a troublesome complicated user registration process by setting a call to be an originator of remote support in the case of a device, such as a mobile phone, including a call function.